


under the sheets (we're safe here)

by twilightstargazer



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, F/F, Forgiveness, Post-Season/Series 05, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-29
Updated: 2020-06-29
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:00:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24957256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twilightstargazer/pseuds/twilightstargazer
Summary: “We have a long road ahead of us,” she murmurs, tucking her face into her neck and breathing her in. “There’s a lot of things that need to be done, things that need to be fixed. But for now we sleep.”-or, after the war, catra and adora take a much needed nap
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Comments: 24
Kudos: 316





	under the sheets (we're safe here)

**Author's Note:**

> god really said i'm giving the gays everything they want and by god i mean noelle
> 
> (title from the song watch you sleep by girl in red)

For so long the end of the war has seemed like a pipe dream to the Rebellion. A never ending battle until She-Ra showed up, a glimmer of hope in these trying times, and managed to pull them towards the end.

And though they emerged victorious, it’s bittersweet at best.

It’s whiplash to go from fighting for their lives to just simply being able to just  _ be _ , and it leaves many people lost and confused. The Horde did a number on Etherea, wreaking havoc across the planet. Cities and towns and even entire kingdoms were brought to their knees during the war. Families were torn apart and lives were ruined. Thousands dead, thousands missing and thousands more injured. Then, like the flick of a switch, it all came to an end. And many who survived don’t know what’s next.

Hell, Adora doesn’t even know what’s next. She feels like she doesn’t know anything anymore, not after being blindsided with new information at every turn.

But, if it’s one thing she does know, it’s that the war is over and she is tired.

The hard packed dirt floor of the tent isn’t made any less comfortable by the thin bedroll, but Adora still groans when her body collapses onto it. Her entire body  _ aches _ down to her bones, and even though she knows that thanks to She-Ra’s powers she’s never really injured when she reverts back to her normal self, it still feels like she got run over by a tank.

She can’t remember the last time she had a proper rest. Maybe on the spaceship, but even then she had a million things to worry about. A hundred year old ship falling apart at the seams, Horde Prime’s clones trying to take them out, asteroids, fuel shortages…  _ Catra _ .

Adora sits up, bracing her weight on her forearms, and she looks towards the tent flap. Catra stands there, fidgeting. Her tail swishes back and forth nervously and she scruffs her foot at the ground. She notices Adora looking over at her and flushes a dull red, ears going flat against the sides of her head.

Adora offers her a soft smile.

“What are you doing all the way over there?” she asks.

“I--” she fumbles, not knowing what to say.

Adora shifts and pats the space next to her before holding out her hand. “C’mere.”

Catra balks but then she takes it, allowing her to pull her into her space.

The bedroll is barely big enough for the two of them and she finds herself pressed against her: shoulder to shoulder, hip to hip, knee to knee. She can feel Catra’s tail flicking anxiously between them, brushing against her skin.

It’s not the first time they’ve shared a sleeping space together. It’s not the first or the second or even the twentieth. Adora grew up with Catra. When they were young they used to nap together all the time and then, as cadets, more often than not she’d wake up with Catra curled into a ball at her feet. It was nice, comforting.

Now Catra is tense next to her, her breaths coming quick and shallow.

Adora hesitates for just a brief moment before she reaches out beneath the covers and takes her hand, her thumb ghosting over her knuckles. She hears her breath catch.

“It’s over,” she murmurs into the still darkness of the tent. It’s twilight and the heavy tarp does a good job at keeping out the setting sun’s rays. Around them she can hear the sounds of the Rebellion-- the clink of weapons as they’re packed, whispers of conversation flowing past, the crackle of a firepit. It all speaks of hope, of a long awaited freedom. “It’s all over. We won.”

“Yeah,” sighs Catra, “We won.”

Her voice sounds off and when Adora lifts her head to get a better look at her, she turns her face away.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“ _ Catra _ .”

She sighs and slides her hand out of hers, leaving it suddenly cold. “I just-- It feels like after everything that I’ve done, I shouldn’t get to be…” her voice trails off, soft and heartbreaking, and Adora can’t help but curl closer to her body.

“That you shouldn’t get to be happy?” she says, soft.

Catra flinches away. “Yeah.”

“Well, you’re wrong,” she says firmly, twisting her body until she’s halfway on top of her, forcing her to look at her face. “You should be happy. You  _ deserve _ to be happy.”

Her eyes are glassy, emotion barely restrained behind them. “I was a Force Captain back in the Horde. I helped Horde Prime almost take over Etherea.” Her eyes screw shut, anguish painting every single one of her features, and it makes Adora’s heart  _ ache _ . “I’ve hurt so many people, innocents, your friends… you.”

Ever so gently, Adora rests her palm against Catra’s face, her thumb stroking the sharp line of her cheekbone. She has freckles, tiny specks that stand out against her skin just like stars. And just like the stars, their beauty still manages to take Adora’s breath away. “I’ve forgiven you for that,” she tells her as she cups her cheek, “I’ve forgiven you for all of those things, Catra. You’re a good person. And I know it might be a while until you can forgive yourself but… you deserve to be happy.”

Her eyelids flutter open, eyelashes brushing against her fingertips. “I don’t deserve your forgiveness.”

“Forgiveness isn’t about what you deserve,” Adora tells her softly, “It’s about what you need.”

Catra watches her for a moment before licking her lips. “I need you,” she says, lowly. The admission hangs heavy in the air around them and she takes a minute to savour it.

For as long as she’s known Catra, she’s never once said that she’s needed anyone. She views vulnerability as a sign of weakness and while Adora knew that back then, back at the Horde, they had each other’s backs, Catra never once said that she  _ needed _ her. 

The words make something warm bloom deep inside her, feeling like bottled sunshine that just spilled all over the place.

“I need you too,” she says, leaning her head against hers so that their foreheads pressed together. “I’ve always needed you. You were my best friend. My person.”

“And you’re mine,” Catra murmurs, just before Adora leans all the way down and presses her lips against hers.

Kissing Catra always feels like getting hit with a stun gun, but in a good way. Unlike their first kiss which was messy and sloppy, filled with an intensity that could probably never be matched again--  _ CatrasavedherCatradidn’tgiveuponherCatralovedher _ \-- this one was softer, calmer. A lazy slide of lips against each other that spoke of nothing but time between them and she can’t help but sigh in content.

It’s only the second time she’s kissing her and yet there’s a certain familiarity between them, an understanding that spans miles and lifetimes. 

When she pulls back, her eyes are soft and half lidded and Adora can’t help but giggle, dropping a sloppy kiss to her cheek before rolling off of her. Catra follows of course, and they end chest to chest, limbs intertwined. If she listens closely, she can hear the soft purring sound coming from her chest accompanied by its vibrations. Her tail wraps around her ankle, easy and warm, grounding her to her.

It’s nice.

“What do we do now?” Catra asks after the silence begins to get too stifling.

Adora shifts and brushes her hair out of her face, laughing quietly when she huffs and swats at her hand. She hates to think about what happened to Catra on Horde Prime’s ship, but her hair… her hair was a nice look. 

“What do you want to do?” she shoots back at her.

Catra rolls her eyes. “Can never give me a straight answer, can you?” she grumbles fondly.

“I just think it’s a valid question,” she says in return.”But if you really want an answer, then it’s rebuilding I guess.”

Catra is quiet for a long moment, long enough that she begins to think that she’s fallen asleep, and then, “Do you think I could help?”

“Of course you can help.”

“No I mean--” she turns so that she could really look at her, and then huffs. “The Horde is responsible for most of the destruction. I’m responsible for most of it. What if… what if destroying things is all I’m good at?”

Her voice wavers on the end of it a little bit, her insecurities peeking through, and Adora reaches for her hand. She interlaces their fingers, letting it rest between them.

“It is not,” she reassures her, “You can do so much more than that.”

“What if they don’t want me in their villages?”

“Then we’ll go to another village.”

“What if the other villages don’t trust me?”

“Catra.” She catches her gaze and holds it steady until the worry and guilt swirling around in her eyes settle. “You’re right, maybe things won’t go smoothly, maybe it might be terrible at it or maybe people won’t trust you. And we can spend all night going through hypotheticals and coming up with the worst case scenarios. But you’ve changed. You’ve helped us all. You’ve helped  _ me  _ when I needed it most, and I trust you. I believe in you.”

It gets a small sniff out of her and if Adora squints, she can just make out the redness of her cheeks in the dark.

Catra sighs. “Okay.”

“We have a long road ahead of us,” she murmurs, tucking her face into her neck and breathing her in. “There’s a lot of things that need to be done, things that need to be fixed. But for now we sleep.”

Catra just grunts and then, tentatively, she lays her arm across her waist, delicately at first and then, when Adora doesn’t say anything, she lets the full weight of it press into her, letting out an exhale.

“I love you,” she mumbles up towards the tent roof, her voice nothing but a whisper in the night.

Adora still hears it though and she can’t help the giddy flush that rises to her cheeks, the smile that threatens to split her face wide open.

Her lips brush against that spot on Catra’s neck, not quite kissing her but just resting them there, because she could. She can feel the way her pulse is racing beneath her skin. The hand that’s tangled in hers squeezes it tenderly.

“I love you too,” she says in return, and feels the way her body relaxes into hers.

The war is over today and tomorrow they will start to rebuild, but for now, Adora just holds on to Catra and finally, they both sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> [tumblr](http://hiddenpolkadots.tumblr.com/) | [writing twitter](https://twitter.com/twlghtstrgzgmt)
> 
> feel free to pop on by and scream about these two with me!


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